CLARK FREEPORT – Even before Pres. Duterte called on the US to return the Balangiga bells, a number of men and women, mostly Americans, have been negotiating with US authorities for the return of the bells brought to the US by American soldiers as spoils of the Philippine-American War in 1901.
One of these Americans is Dennis Wright, president of the Peregrine International in this Freeport, who, only last May, had successfully negotiated for the return of the 400- kilo church bell made from an alloy of gold, silver and copper to the Church of Sts. Peter and Paul in Bauang, La Union.
The bell had been on display at a church at the US Military Academy in New York, also as “spoils of war” from Bauang in 1901, until Wright and his compatriots brought them back.
On the other hand, the Balangiga bells consist of three bells taken from the Church of San Lorenzo de Martir in Balangiga, Samar, after US soldiers massacred Filipino males there in retaliation for their previous attacks on American soldiers.
Wright said two of the bells have remained on a display stand at the Warren US Air Force Base in Cheyenne, Wyoming and the third is with the US Army in South Korea.
In an email interview with Punto, Wright said he and other Americans from the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 2485 issued a resolution approved by VFW Department of Pacifi c Areas which, he noted, represents 11,700 veterans.
Wright showed letters written by his compatriots to various US authorities seeking the return of the Balangiga bells.
One letter was from lawyer Stan Hathaway, dated March 13, 1998 and addressed to Wyoming Sen. Craig Thomas. It mentioned having participated in a Mass presided by Bishop Hart of the Catholic Diocese of Wyoming who told then Philippine Ambassador to US Raul Rabe that “the bells of Balangiga were not a trophy of war but a religious symbol to the people of the Philippines.
Hathaway appealed to the senator to return the bells to the Philippines “so that we can improve the friendship with the Philippines which was once a protectorate of the United States, and help them celebrate their 100th birthday as a free nation.” Philippine Independence centennial anniversary was in 1998.
Even before Duterte’s SONA, yet another letter from Samantha Hoff man of Traverse City, Michigan was sent to Sen. Gary Peters in Washington DC. She identified herself as cousin of Private Robert Booth who was part of the US military in the Philippines in 1901.
Hoffman noted that “Wyoming has fought to keep these bells despite having no relationship to them nor to the Balangiga encounter.”
“The bells should go home (to the Philippines). Church bells at Warren Air Force Base do not honor my cousin nor make up for his loss,” she said.
Yet another letter from Spike Nasmyth of VFW Post 2485 addressed to Sen. John McCain III said “the bells of San Lorenzo (Balangiga) should never have been taken in the first place. It was in violation of General Order 100. Bells are not war booty; they belong in a church to call the faithful to worship.”
